Category Archives: Beauty

Beauty || Long Stay Lipstick, Fast Illuminated Skin & Bold Brows! An easy 5 minute face.

I love a quick makeup routine, and by love I mean I NEED a fast makeup routine. Being a busy mom of two I rarely get kidless time to do my makeup anymore. Gone are the days where I could test out new techniques, browse through products and put a full glam face on for 20 minutes. Over the years, you know that I have gravitated to products that have tons of impact because I’ll only get to use a few in my 5 minutes with kids for my morning beauty routine. When asked recently on Instagram how I’m getting my skin to look so bright, brows on point and a perfected pout… I thought I would put all the answers here! Here are the products I used to get this look in just a few minutes.

Let’s start with long stay lip wear. It’s my best friend, with no need to reapply every hour I’m loving the new Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink line. I find I can get away with a full meal, coffee break and at least 4 hours before I want a minor retouch. The brush applicator is easy to use and helps me get that shape without the time doing a liner. I’m wearing #80 RULER in this look. Int;’s easily my favourite shade from the collection.

Next up skin! Usually I would get into the skincare I’ve been using… because yes I feel that makes a difference but that’s a whole other beauty post. Let’s just talk about the handful of products used in this look. Under and above my eye I’m wearing Too Faced Born This Way Concealer. On my skin, I applied the Tatcha Silk Canvas Protective Primer to smooth out my skin and help my makeup last longer. Plus, it protects your skin from clogged pores and future breakouts! It’s a crime not to prime!

Next, I used BAREMINERALS BarePRO™ Performance Wear Liquid Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 20. This foundation has amazing coverage, so I only use a few drops on a ARTIS Elite Mirror Oval 8 Brush. I find this brush blends foundation so quickly and evenly giving me an air brushed look. Finally, I dabbed Hard Candy Glow All The Way in 318 on my cheeks.

For brows, I used Josie Maran’s The Good Brow pencil, this easy to use two step product both defines brows shaping them with colour while illuminating the arch. You don’t need to be a makeup artist to get defined brows with this pencil, it’s so easy to use. Best of all, it’s organic! I used the IT Cosmetic 5in1 Hello Lashes mascara. It is a conditioning lash primer, lash-enhancing serum, lash tint, and curler—all in one. That’s right, it does ALL of that all at once. It’s a great timer saver. And a swipe of Charlotte Tilbury’s Rose Gold Eyeshadow Palette for Bigger Brighter Eyes for good measure.

Done! Continue reading →

Beauty Top Picks: Eye Edition || Bags, puffiness, dark circles be gone!

You requested it and I’ve answered. So many of you have messaged me asking for my favorite eye creams. There are almost too many out there, it can be overwhelming but I’ve broken my favorites down by concern. Once you find the right eye cream, it can truely be a transforming part of your beauty routine. Here are my top eye creams to help you combat fine lines, dark circles and the dreaded puffy under eye.

Revitalization (Combates Fine Lines and Wrinkles):

bareMinerals Brilliant Future, glo eye restore, it. Cosmetics Confidence in an Eye Cream, PURA Neroli Eye Ritual (Oil)

Brightens (Combates dark under eye circles):

it. Cosmetics Confidence in an Eye Cream, Tatcha Luminous eye serum, bareMinerals Brilliant Future

Hydration (Combats dryness and puffiness):

Josie Marian Pure Argan Milk & Milk Devotion eye serum, Bioderma Sensibios Eye Gel, Tatcha Luminous eye serum, it. Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Eye Cream.

Microbladed Brows || Before & After #beautytrend #yeg

I know you’ve definitely heard about this brow trend. I know I started seeing microbladed brow salons pop up about 5 years ago but it’s really gained popularity in the last two years. You’ll find the service offered at so many places now, which is always nice to see availablity. For myself, I couldn’t receive the treatment pregnant or breastfeeding, so I didn’t get to try this trend until recently. And in all honesty I was a bit hesitant, I LOVE brows. Plus, this is a razor cutting your skin, so I knew it would take me a while to find a repairable place for health and safety reasons. In my makeup routine, it’s easily one of my favorite steps daily. It took me a while to find a tech that did fine hair like strokes and a natural shape. I had see some “after” photos of brows and I knew I really wanted to get that natural hair like look opposed to the powered or tattooed brow look. I have full brows, so for me it was correcting a handful of trouble spots I have from over plucking in the early 2000’s. I visited Amber from Lipstick Empire here in Edmonton. I loved seeing her work ahead of time and I know she did the type of detail I wanted in this procedure. Below you’ll see one month after the treatment with minor makeup. Highlighter under the brow and a stroke of a pomade based brow pencil. This is for sure a process update, because I will go for a touch up at 6 months. I cant that appointment add more strokes and go darker with the colour if I choose.

Here are my tips and tricks with Lipstick Empire to help heal those brows post procedure:

Tip #1: Research the place of business and the tech that will be doing your brows. Not all places and people are created equal. For health and safety reasons do your research… and for your brow look preference find a tech that fits your aesthetic and expected results.

Tip #2: Have realistic expectations of recovery time and what brows will look like after healing. As you can see below, it took me a full two weeks to have fully healed brows. And the colour of the strokes significantly faded from first day to a fully healed brow.

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Winter Walks & New Glasses || A Chilly Weather Personal Style Post

Duffle Toggle Coat: J.Crew Collection || Jeans: Abercrombie || Shirt: Abercrombie

Sweater: Abercrombie || Boots: EMU || Watch: Daniel Wellington || Glasses: Bonlook

In the last month, I’ve been asked about the 4 pairs of glasses I’ve been wearing on the regular… so I thought I would link up my first pair. These stunning retro glasses in clear and grey are by Bonlook. Completely adorable with prescription and ever so stylish. I love that they have a virtual try on tool to see how they would look on you before ordering.

Photos by: B.Grace Creatives for Northern Style Exposure Continue reading →